Player ratings from Manchester United’s 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest
**Andre Onana - 4**
Could he have done better on Elanga’s goal? Could he have been more aggressive coming off his line?
**Diogo Dalot - 4**
Whether he fits the role or not he’s playing wingback in Ruben Amorim’s system and needs to be judged accordingly. The role requires him to create threatening scoring chances and he just isn’t doing that.
**Leny Yoro - 6**
Put in a solid performance returning from injury. Made an excellent tackle on Elanga but Elanga beating him to the ball in the first place is concerning.
**Matthijs de Ligt - 6**
Defensively solid, on the ball continues to be very passive. Routinely takes the safest action and concedes far too many easy corners. Wasn’t under a lot of pressure tonight.
**Noussair Mazraoui - 5**
Wasn’t the closest man to the ball but one of two men back on the corner that turned into Elanga’s goal. Like the rest of United’s defense was not under much pressure tonight.
**Patrick Dorgu - 5**
Got forward well. Gets himself chances in the box, which is what Amorim wants. Provided the overlapping runs that Garnacho ignored.
**Manuel Ugarte - 5**
Not sure if his halftime substitution was due to his performance or because he played at a really high altitude just a few days ago. This was not the game for him.
**Casemiro - 6**
Six of United’s last nine Premier League goals have come on set pieces and that’s likely why Casemiro was in the XI. He made his presence known with a few chances but couldn’t find the net. Ran out of gas badly after halftime.
**Alejandro Garnacho - 0**
Is there an opposite to the Midas Touch? Everything Garnacho touched tonight turned to trash. Did not cover himself in glory at all on Elanga’s goal either.
**Bruno Fernandes - 6**
Struggled to really get involved and was moved deeper with every substitution. United didn’t get any set pieces from dangerous areas for him to take advantage of.
**Joshua Zirkzee - 4**
Dropped deep to provide some good holdup play in buildup, but in order for it to be really good, your teammates have to utilize the space he creates. They didn’t, so he was ineffective.
**Subs**
**Rasmus Hojlund - 2**
Got a shot within two minutes of coming on, then disappeared again.
**Christian Eriksen - 5**
Brought on likely because Casemiro was on a yellow and had no legs left. Also hopefully to add some creativity. Not his day.
**Mason Mount - N/A**
Nice to see him back on the pitch.
**Harry Maguire - Striker - N/A**
Five months into the Erik Ten Hag era, United needed a second goal against Real Sociedad to avoid playing in the Europa League playoffs. Ten Hag brought on Harry Maguire as an emergency striker.
Five months into the Ruben Amorim era, United needed a late goal against Nottingham Forest, so Amorim brought on Maguire as an emergency striker. It didn’t work either time.
**Manager**
**Ruben Amorim - 2**
It’s been 16 days since United last played a game, and they looked like they were unprepared for what Nottingham Forest was going to throw at them. The best way to sum up Amorim’s performance was just bizarre.
The choice to start the ultra-defensive midfield pivot of Ugarte and Casemiro in midfield was odd. United set up as if they planned to play without the ball and hit Forest on the counter attack - except they didn’t have counter attackers on the pitch and this is Nottingham Forest we’re talking about. A team that’s really good at not having the ball.
His substitutions were odd as well. Removing Ugarte at halftime only to take off Casemiro 15 minutes later was bizarre. Ultimately, ending up with Harry Maguire coming on as a makeshift striker was telling how futile the performance was.
Forest were always going to drop deep and play a low block. An early goal meant they didn’t have to come out of it. This is an area United have struggled with numerous times this year such as the loss to Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, and the reverse fixture against Forest. Forest weren’t even particularly good in this one, uncharacteristically leaving big gaps between their defensive lines but United didn’t come close to taking advantage. They didn’t look like they had any particular ideas for how to break down that block.
Forest let United have the ball (they average the lowest possession in the league) and the territory, making the performance look better than it was. Ultimately, United looked like a 13th-placed team.